on an overnight flight to Buenos Aires' Ezeiza International Airport on Aerolineas Argentinas.

31-Jul

Night #2

Buenos Aires

After arriving in Buenos Aires, we will have a bus transfer to the Hotel Octubre 3 in the city center. We'll then walk a few blocks (7, I think) and cross Av. 9 de Julio, the world's widest (or second widest) avenue to get to the Restaurant La Estancia and an excellent meal. In the afternoon, we'll take a city bus tour. When that's over, you can shop in the centro or take a siesta. We will have a very late night at La Ventana, one of the city's premier tango clubs but dinner won't start until 8:30 at the earliest. While we dine we will be entertained by tango music and dance as well as other tratitional types of Argentine music.

1-Aug

Night #3

Buenos Aires / Mendoza

In the morning, we'll bus transfer to Jorge Newberry Airport, on the Río de la Plata estuary. From there, we'll fly across the pampas to the city of Mendoza, at the eastern base of the Andes, getting a view of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of Asia. A bus will take us to our hotel, the Hotel El Torreon. After a lunch in the city, we'll take a city tour that includes a visit to a winery. Dinner will be in one of the city's many restaurants.

2-Aug

Night #4

MendozatoMendoza

In the morning, we'll cross the Andes into Chile over the south shoulder of Aconcagua following the route used by the Army of the Andes, in 1817, en route to their successful rout of the Spanish Army at Chacabuco and Maipú.

This route was also followed by Charles Darwin in 1835. After eating lunch on the road, we'll arrive in Santiago, Chile, staying at the Hotel Eurohotel. We'll have a city tour in the late afternoon and then dinner in a restaurant near the hotel. What really happened was that the pass was blocked by snow and we returned to Mendoza.

3-Aug

Night #5

Santiago

In the morning, we'll visit the Maipú battlefield. After lunch, we'll return to Santiago and have a tour of the city. The rest of the afternoon will be free time. Dinner will be in the city and another night at the Hotel Eurohotel. Actually, we drove from Mendoza to Villa Unión, La Rioja, Argentina, stopping at the Valle de la Luna park.

4-Aug

Night #6

Santiagoto Bahía Inglesa

In the morning, we'll head north, toward Bahía Inglesa, following the Cordillera de la Costa. After lunch, we'll continue the long drive northward , along the Pacific coast where we'll stay at the Hotel Blanco Encalada. Dinner will be in the town. Instead, we continued north up the east side of the Andes to Fiambalá where we enjoyed an evening in the hot springs.

5-Aug

Night #7

Bahía Inglesa to Atacama

We'll continue our way northward to the town of Atacama. This will be another long drive.

Once again, lunch will be on the road. We'll spend two nights at the Hotel Casa de Don Tomás. Dinner will be in Atacama. We crossed the Andes into Chile (finally) over the Paso de San Francisco but got hung up at Argentine customs for 5-6 hours. We ended up spending the night on the road on the way to Antofagasta.

6-Aug

Night #8

Atacama to Calama to Atacama

After breakfast, we'll visit the Valle de la Luna park. If we are lucky, we might see a distant volcano erupting (if we are unlucky, we might see a nearby one erupting!). Next, we'll drive to Calama where we'll eat lunch. in the afternoon, we'll visit the Chuquicamata open pit copper mine, one of the world's largest. This used to be the Anaconda Mine until it was nationalized in the 1960's.

We'll return to Atacama in the evening.

Because we were delayed, we had breakfast in Antofagasta and then drove toward San Pedro Atacama, stopping in Calama for dinner and a native festival. Unfortunately, we did not visit the mine.

7-Aug

Night #9

Atacama to San Antonio de los Cobres

In the morning, we'll visit the Tatio Geyser and then return to Atacama for lunch.

In the afternoon, we'll make our highest ascent of the trip as we cross the Cordillera Occidental back into Argentina and onto the Puna, a narrow southern extension of the Bolivian Altiplano. This is one of the driest places on Earth. We'll see thick salt deposits in dried up lakebeds. Night will be spent at the Hotel de las Nubes on the Puna in the town of San Antonio de los Cobres at about 14,000' elevation. This will be the highest (and coldest) night of the trip. The town is in Salta Province which has one of the most diverse sets of climates and environments of any place on Earth. We arrived at our hotel around 3 AM so we slept late and then headed eastward to the Argentine Puna. We spent the night at a roadhouse on the Puna.

8-Aug

Night #10

San Antonio de los Cobres to Cafayate

In the morning, we'll descend to lower elevation through the magnificent Quebrada del Toro and then head southward through the Valle de Lerma and the scenic Quebrada de las Conchas, stopping at numerous points of both scenic and geological interest. Lunch will be in one of the small towns en route. We'll spend the night in the really nice town of Cafayate in the Hotel Astúrias.

We finally got back on schedule!!!

9-Aug

Night #11

Cafayate to Salta

In the morning, we'll head northward up the Valles Calchaquíes in the Cordillera Oriental, accompanied by Argentine geologist, Dra. Claudia Galli. We'll make a brief stop in the scenic village of Angastaco before continuing up the valley. We'll make a brief visit in the town of Cachi and then head eastward through the cactus forest and on to the Cuesta del Obispo and Valle Encantado

overlook. Then, we'll descend to the Valle de Lerma and continue into the provincial capital of Salta. We'll stay at the Hostería Los Ceibos for three nights in San Lorenzo, one of the eastern suburbs.

10-Aug

Night #12

Salta

In t he morning we'll have a city tour. Then, lunch will be at a friend's restaurant with a group of faculty and students from the Universidad Nacional de Salta, people I have been working with since 1989. When that is over, you'll have the afternoon and evening free to shop, hang out with Argentine students, or explore.

11-Aug

Night #13

Salta

This will be a free day.

12-Aug

Night #14

Salta to Tartagal

We'll head northward to Tartagal, a town near the Bolivian border

. On the way, we'll stop to see the 100 m-deep canyon carved by the Río Iruya since it was accidentally diverted in 1898. Night will be spent in the Hotel Presidente in Tartagal. We didn't make it to the Río Iruya. It was farther than I remembered!

13-Aug

Night #15

Tartagalto Filadelfia

Drive eastward across the Argentine Chaco savanna to Filadelfia, Paraguay.

A stop will be made to visit an aboriginal community. We'll stay at the Hotel Florida.

14-Aug

Night #16

Filadelfia to Asunción

We'll make the drive to the capital, Asunción, in the morning and check into the Asunción Palace Hotel. In the afternoon, we'll have a tour of Asunción and then the rest of the day will be free.

15-Aug

Night #17

Asunción to Foz do Iguazu

After driving eastward across Paraguay, and possibly visiting a forestry operation, we'll visit the Itiapú hydrolelectric project, the largest in South America. Then, we'll cross into Brazil

drive to Foz do Iguazu where we'll spend the night. We'll visit the Brazilian side of the Foz do Iguazu, walking along the trail above the river. Night will be spent at the Hotel Alexander.

16-Aug

Night #18

Foz do Iguazu/ B.A. / In Flight

In the morning, we'll cross cross back into Argentina and visit the Argentine side of the Cataratas de Iguazú. After lunch, we'll fly to Buenos Aires and transfer to Ezeiza International Airport for our evening flight back to Miami. Because of our late arrival the night before, we only visited the Brazilian side of the falls.

17-Aug

In Flight / Miami and Home!

The flight arrives in the early morning. We'll split up after passing through customs and head for home!